The UAE’s Arabtec Holding has announced that its Saudi Arabian subsidiary, Arabtec Construction, has been awarded a AED1bn ($272m) contract from oil major Saudi Aramco.

The contract, which is expected to be completed within 28 months, involves the design, construction, completion and maintenance of 380 villas, as well as all associated external works.

The project will be built on an area of 454,500 square metres.

Another Arabtec subsidiary, Target Engineering, has also recently won contracts totalling AED930m from Aramco in the oil and gas sector.

On 1 March, MEED reported that Aramco also recently confirmed it is in the process of renewing a standby revolving credit facility. It is understood the new arrangement will replace the current $4bn facility raised in November 2010 with a syndicate of local, regional and international banks.

Aramco said the facility would help the company “maintain financial flexibility”, but did not elaborate on the purpose of the loan.

The deal is reportedly due to close in the first quarter of the year.